This campaign is meant to convince people that antibiotics are a precious resource and that misusing them encourages antibiotic resistance. It has been organized by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (the EU equivalent of the US CDC) and is being carried out by an enviably long list of national agencies within the EU. It's accompanied by the publication in the journal Eurosurveillance of an article setting out the challenges of controlling antibiotic resistance across diverse nationalities and geographical boundaries.
ECDC estimates that 25 000 deaths per year in Europe are directly linked to resistant bacteria, the equivalent of half of road accident fatalities. The costs average 1,5 billion EUR annually.
European countries that have undertaken to reduce the overuse of antibiotics - France, UK, Sweden and Belgium- have seen a constant and encouraging reduction of infection rates in their hospitals.
Major pharmaceutical companies are reluctant to invest in new antibiotics research, considering it not to be profitable.
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
